I paid $6,000 to spend New Years Eve on a cruise ship. It was a wild and crazy party, but it was worth every penny
In:I usually hunker down at home for New Year's Eve, but this year I wanted to party it up.
Everyone thinks of the ultimate for New Year's Eve party as freezing in Times Square fighting a crowd and wearing an adult diaper, but that sounds like the worst idea to me. Instead, I looked at how we could combine my favorite way to vacation with ringing in 2025.
Over a year earlier, I booked two cabins on Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas so I could spend New Year's Eve somewhere other than home.
It seemed like a great way to avoid the overwhelming nature of going into a city, without compromising on the party atmosphere.
I booked two connecting ocean balcony cabins for my family on a 5-night sailing of Voyager of the Seas that departed Port Canaveral, Florida. Not only would we be on the ship for New Year's Eve, but we'd get to visit Cozumel, Mexico and Royal Caribbean's private island too. That gets me beautiful beach days in addition to the party I sought after.
The price for each cabin was $3,200, bringing the total for both rooms at $6408.36.
You have a choice of parties to attend
Royal Caribbean splits up its ship into different party zones, with the idea that you can get different vibes at each.
We had a list of the parties offered delivered to our stateroom, with times that each would occur.
All the parties have no cost to them, so it's just first-come, first-to-party.
By far the most popular party was the Times Square-esque party on the Royal Promenade, which has a giant balloon drop.
Being a family cruise line, there were other options to drop your kids off or party with your kids. This is a major benefit of celebrating New Year's Eve on a cruise ship, because it's rare to find kid-friendly options at land parties.
There are optional tables you can rent, and it was more expensive than I expected
On the Royal Promenade, there's an option to rent tables for the duration of the party.
You get a reserved table with chairs, along with drink service and complimentary bottle of champagne.
The cost was $800 for the table. While I can appreciate the exclusivity factor and not having to be elbow-to-elbow with others, it seemed like a steep price.
Nonetheless, they sold all of their tables, so clearly there's a market for it.
I decided to forgo paying for a spot, and find our own luck.
We spent our night hopping between parties
My original plan was to check out all the parties, but I ended up closer to the Royal Promenade.
I started out with live music in the Pub, prior to the festivities officially kicking off.
The pub singer played a couple of sets, beginning at 6:30pm. Technically this wasn't one of the New Years Eve parties, but it set the tone.
After his set was done, we ventured out to to the Royal Promenade.
It wasn't busy at all, with just a small crowd around the band that was playing music at the center of it.
In fact, the Promenade never got truly busy until the 11pm hour. I think most people were doing what I was doing up until then and roaming.
We found a spot in the Schooner Bar, which is one deck below the Royal Promenade. There was no entertainment here, but there was full bar service and seats. Plus, I could run up to the Royal Promenade quite easily.
Once 11pm, things start to get serious with the party atmosphere.
On the Royal Promenade, the crowd really sets in and for those seeking a typical New Year's Eve celebration, this is what you'll get.
Lots of people together, ready to welcome in the new year.
The ship's entertainment staff is there to count it all down, and right at midnight the balloons are dropped and there's a massive eruption of cheers.
In all, I loved how easy it was to get in and out without any traffic, or real thought into what we needed to do. It was all there to enjoy.
If you want to celebrate New Year's Eve without fuss, I think this is the way to go
There's no doubt spending New Year's Eve on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship was the right play for our family.
Partying on land is great, but it involves much more planning. Plus, I would never want to go to a city and do the ball drop experience. A cruise was the perfect approximation of what it's all about without the hassle.
The downside to booking a New Year's Eve cruise is you'll pay a higher price for a holiday sailing.
Bargain hunters will not find the price of a cruise over a major holiday palatable, but there's plenty of other people willing to pay it. Our ship was completely sold out, and clearly many opted to spend more on a reserved table for the party.
The simplicity of it all is what makes a cruise such an attractive vacation to begin with, and this holds true with a New Year's Eve cruise.
